Wrestlers during the Ceremonial Sumo Tournament at the Yasukuni Shrine on April 4, 2014 in Tokyo.

Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist says the millions of dollars that will be spent on the 2014 congressional elections won’t any alleviate any of the gridlock in Washington.

Speaking at a daylong conference in Washington on finding common ground between liberals and conservatives, Norquist said the federal government will remain in a holding pattern until 2016 as Congress and the White House deadlock over solutions to any major issues.

“The big stuff is not going to be voted on during the next three years,” Norquist said. “We have two perfectly matched sumo wrestlers. Nobody’s getting pushed out of the ring.”

The conference was organized by Ralph Nader, who recently wrote a book on the subject. Topics included free trade, defense spending, civil liberties and corporate welfare, and speakers came from both sides of the political spectrum. One panel, for example, included representatives from both Tea Party Nation,and Nader’s Public Citizen advocacy group.

In keeping with the theme of the event, Nader was the one who introduced Norquist.